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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Winter Blahs and Inspiration

It's a fact Winter can be a harsh season....both mentally and physically. The lack of sunlight, nature, warm temperatures, fresh air and all the other good things that come with warmer seasons. People lose motivation, energy, sickness is more prevalent, some feel blue, down or just fatigued, the cold weather keeps people inside and a host of other things....which many refer to as the winter blahs.

Winter always seems to feel like the longest season. Here in the Philadelphia region it seems to take forever for things to really warm up. We never seem to get enough of those lovely 80 degree type of days....it's either chilly or really hot. And the only thing that makes winter remotely fun is snow, yet it really doesn't snow all that much here. This winter has been much colder then normal and rather cloudy.

Usually by January I find myself dreaming about living somewhere warm again, and this winter is no different. It's when I truly miss living in San Diego. And start to dream about living in a small beach town again, or even what it would be like to live on a Caribbean island year round. I'm a beach girl, it's hard enough living a hour and half from the beach let alone living in a cold climate.

Yet those very same things that tug at my soul to live at the beach, also tug at my soul to be close to family as well. Leaving me often feeling torn between the two. Then winter comes and that desire to be in a warmer climate by the sea grows even stronger. I watch surfing competitions, golf tournaments and house hunting shows from island locations and get completely lost in daydreams. There is a feeling of living vicariously through those living in warmer climates. And of course any videos made at the beach during summer tend to get played as well.

And if it can be afforded and fit into the schedule this is usually when vacations to warmer places get put into motion. Due to our rather tight budget it's been a few years since we took a vacation to some place warm, or spent a week at the beach and truth be told even vacationing can be tough as sometimes it only strengthens the desire to live some place warm. :)

Ah the joys of living in a climate with four seasons. So when I saw this posted on facebook I thought it was exactly the kind of inspiration that needed to be shared during this winter season. Along with a photo of a beautiful summer day!

7
Things Happy People Say Every Day

1. Today is going to be a great day.

If you’re reading this right now, smile, you’re alive. The
possibilities ahead of you are infinite, it’s true. Think about this
and let it inspire you. A good life begins right now with a choice.
It’s going to be fun, finger-snapping kind of day if you want it to
be. Choose wisely and indulge in the goodness. Enjoy the sights and
sounds, watch the clouds, stare at the stars, and imagine yourself
dancing among them.

Your life is for smiling, imagining, exploring, learning, hugging,
sharing, caring, helping, and healing. Choose to do these things.
Choose to make the most of the gift you’ve been given. Wake up every
morning in such a way that the negativity committee lingering in the
back of your mind says, “Oh crap, not another happy day!”

2. I’m looking forward to it.

William James once said, “Action may not always bring happiness, but
there is no happiness without action.” Everything you do is only as big
as you are, and you grow by taking action
and working hard. But even more importantly, remember that hard work is
only ‘hard to do’ only when it has no meaning to you.

If your daily work is becoming uninteresting, so is your life and so
are you. Your work is going to fill a large percentage of your time on
Earth, so the only way to make the majority of it lively and interesting
is by enthusiastically injecting yourself into work that aligns with
your purpose. That’s the key. Find work that means something to you, or connect
your work to a goal that has meaning, and then persist at it.

3. I’ll give it another try.

Forget failure, or any other outcome whatsoever. If you try
something – to improve yourself, to eliminate debt, to lose weight, to
make a relationship work, to make the world a better place, etc. – you
have already achieved something brilliant regardless of the end result.
Trying is always enough.

If things don’t work out the way you had hoped, hold your head up and
be proud that you gave it your best shot. Then try again. Ultimately,
each mistake teaches you something new about your goal and yourself.
There is no failure except in never trying again. It is always the
courage to continue that counts in the end.

4. Hello.

Life is a choir made up of many voices, including your own. Join in
and sing your part. Let the harmony ring. It may sound silly to you
now, but sometimes all you need in life is for someone to sing beside
you.

One day you’re going to look back on smiles and songs you shared with others and smile and sing some more. Because it’s sincere human connections
– the sharing of a moment – that gives life it’s best music. Sometimes
it happens when you reach out and help someone sing their verse, and
other times it’s allowing another to reach out and help you sing yours.

5. Thank you.

Gratitude leads to greatness. It can literally turn what we have
into more than enough, jobs into joy, chaos into order, uncertainty into
clarity, and bring peace to an otherwise chaotic day.

The greatest way to make your blessings count is to count your
blessings. Acknowledging the good things you already have in your life
is of the essence, because whatever you appreciate and give thanks for
will grow stronger in your life.

6. I’m OK.

How you respond to life’s little tragedies is what shapes your
character. Crap happens sometimes, you’ve got to deal with it and move
on. Don’t hide from it. If your dreams are out in the world somewhere
and you’re inside hiding, the only new things that will gather in your
mind are anxiety and bitterness. Eventually that anxiety and bitterness
will eat away at you and leave nothing behind but an unhappy shell of
your former self.

So when the crap hits the fan, as it sometimes will, stop and say it out loud: “I’m OK.” Besides, the ones who fall and get up are so much stronger than the
ones who never fell. Often it’s the deepest difficulties which empower
human beings to rise and grow into their highest, happiest selves. The
ones who win the race in the long run are usually not the quickest or
luckiest, but the ones who have endured the most.

7. It was a busy day.

Happiness is a quest – a journey of magnitude. It’s a something you
feel – a longing that pulls your thoughts and efforts in a specific
direction. You strive for it daily, persisting in your pursuit against
the odds, and sometimes find yourself traveling to faraway lands to get
closer to it.

The happiest moments will be the unexpected breakthroughs on this
lifelong journey, as you participate relentlessly in exploring and
manifesting your own blessings. Happiness will never be something you
hold at the end, but something you do to get there. Once you find yourself in this state of happiness, it means you have
found the right rhythm. Don’t stop. Maintain your efforts. Enjoy
yourself. Keep journeying onward and upward.

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Welcome to my world. I believe we should all try to be the change we wish to see and that the truth will set you free. Here you will find a little bit of everything, a journal of sorts of what feels like a road less traveled life. As well as a mission to help shelter dogs find loving homes.

Wisdom

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